The Great Demographic Illusion: Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream

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Richard Alba

The Great Demographic Illusion

Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream

Richard Alba

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English

Princeton University Press
03 May 2022

Migration, immigration & emigration; Ethnic studies; Sociology; Population & demography; Central government policies

Five Books’ Best Politics Books of 2020 from Yascha Mounk

Why the number of young Americans with ethno-racially mixed backgrounds is surging and what this means for the country's future Americans are under the spell of a distorted and polarizing story about their country's future-the majority-minority narrative-which contends that inevitable demographic changes will create a society with a majority made up of minorities for the first time in American history. The Great Demographic Illusion reveals the flaws in this narrative and how it obscures a more transformative development: the rising numbers of young Americans from ethno-racially mixed families, consisting of one white and one nonwhite parent. Examining the unprecedented significance of mixed parentage in the twenty-first-century United States, Richard Alba looks at how young Americans with this background will play pivotal roles in the country's demographic future. Assembling a vast body of evidence, Alba explores where these mixed families fit in American society. Most participate in the mainstream, as seen in their high levels of integration into social milieus with whites and frequent marriage with them. Yet, racism is evident in the very different experiences of individuals with black-white heritage. Alba's portrait squares in key ways with the history of American immigrant-group assimilation, and indicates that, once again, mainstream American society is expanding and becoming more inclusive. He discusses social policies that might enhance mainstream assimilation and argues that the future is more likely to resemble a gradual evolution from the present rather than a stark overturning of an established order. Countering rigid demographic beliefs and predictions, The Great Demographic Illusion offers a new way of understanding American society and its coming transformation.

By: Richard Alba
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780691206219
ISBN 10: 069120621X
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 03 May 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Richard Alba is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. His many books include Strangers No More (Princeton), Blurring the Color Line, and Remaking the American Mainstream.

Reviews for The Great Demographic Illusion: Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream

"""Winner of the Otis Dudley Duncan Award, Section on Population of the American Sociological Association"" ""A heartening, wise, and profoundly important counternarrative to hysteria."" * Kirkus Reviews * ""Alba writes with an admirable absence of jargon. His data-driven but fully accessible work advances an original and important idea that, if correct, will have major societal consequences."" * Foreign Affairs * ""Required reading for everyone who comments or writes on American elections.""---Morris Fiorina, Real Clear Politics ""A book that American politicians should read. . . . Excellent policy proposals.""---Suzanne Model, Ethnic and Racial Studies ""An extremely important book. . . . Alba uses a wealth of data and a rigorous historical lens to systematically dismantle this “great demographic illusion,” which is fueling populist backlash and political division.""---Eric Kaufmann, American Journal of Sociology ""Clearly rooted in sociology and does include data and tables, this is a productive and enlightening read even for those who teach and do research in literary and cultural studies.""---Julia Sattler, Amerikastudien/American Studies"